News

Digitimes, a site that has a hit-or-miss track record when it comes to Apple rumors, reports that Apple is continuing to develop a TV that is likely to sport an Ultra HD4K display (3840 x 2160). According to the sources, a standalone Apple TV set could launch by the end of this year, but it is more likely that Apple decides to unveil it in early 2014.

Getting the most out of XBMC on your Apple TV is a difficult thing to do. Whether watching the latest movies, looking to stream last nights TV episodes, listening to music on Pandora, or playing video games on your Apple TV 1 or Apple TV2, XBMC has the ability to handle the job. But wait, there’s more! What most people tend to overlook is that XBMC goes far beyond a stand alone media center. With this software installed you can use your Apple TV as a social media hub, a torrent controller, a Nintendo gaming console, or even the front end of an NZB client.

Back in January XBMC released the long awaited Frodo 12.0 for all of your Apple products. Now you can install XBMC on your iPads, iPhones, iPods, and your, glorious, little Apple TV 2. The installation is almost the exact same as installing previous builds of XBMC with 4 subtle differences. Here we have put together a guide that incorporates these changes. So, sit back, relax and grab a cup of coffee.

Now that we are able to officially pairBluetooth keyboards with our Apple TVs, the question quickly becomes: what are the best Bluetooth keyboards to use? Well, after searching the highest highs, the lowest lows, and everywhere in between we believe we have compiled a list of the best options, and great choices, for every preference out there.

It was not long ago that we shared the news regarding Apple officially activating its Bluetooth hardware, via the 5.2 update, on their Apple TV 2 and Apple TV 3 devices. Though it seems that support is limited to Bluetooth keyboards, not Bluetooth remotes, only time will tell if Apple has a line of new peripherals on the way for us all. As exciting as the news is, having Bluetooth capabilities does no good if users are unsure/unable to utilize these features.

The FireCore team’s aTV Flash software, known as “black”, has recently been updated to version 2.2. This update incorporates support for Apple’s latest 5.2 software update (iOS 6.1), which officialy opened up support for Bluetooth devices to pair with your Apple TV. This is very exciting for those of you who had accidentally, or perhaps purposely, updated your black boxes in the past weeks. For those of you who have not yet updated your device, you need to consider one important question prior to clicking that software update option. The question before you is simply: “do I use Plex, Remote HD, Rowmote, or XBMCon my Apple TV?” If your answer is yes you may want to hold off on the Apple update as Apple’s latest software update also breaks these tools. We are sure this will be fixed, but as of now any Apple TV running 5.1 or higher will not have access to the items listed above.